Basement of the Week: Surprises Around Every Corner

When it came to remodeling his clients' basement, designer Jeff Lindgren looked to their two big passions: games — everything from pool to poker, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

"When they called me, the owners had just helped their daughter move into her new place for college, and they wanted a fresh and awe-inspiring place to entertain themselves after a hard day at work and when they had guests over," he says. "The goal was to introduce personality to their large, characterless space and make it suit their lifestyle." Inspired by their passion for Wright and the Prairie style of the home, he devised clever solutions to warm up and define the vast and sterile space, and to make it more functional.

Basement at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with an emptying nest
Location: Minneapolis
Size: 1,415 square feet (including 2 more bedrooms and 2 bathrooms not shown below)

BEFORE: The basement was finished, but not to the same level of design as the rest of the Prairie-style home. It had become a hodgepodge of exercise equipment, extra luggage and cast-offs, and was not a comfortable space where the homeowners wanted to spend any time.

However, they were very lucky in that they have a full walk-out basement with lots of access to the backyard, where there is a covered patio, screened-in porch and hot tub, and where there will one day be a pool. They were also lucky in that the ceilings down here are 9 feet high.


AFTER: Part of unifying the basement with the other levels of the home is this rain-chain fountain, which extends from the top floor all the way to the basement floor, providing the soothing sound of water.


A big part of Lindgren's solution for the layout and function of the new entertainment space is a central indoor cedar pergola. It is a sculptural element that divides the vast main room in two and houses all of the electronics.


This side is a TV lounge and bar area; the other is a game room with a billiards table. In addition to the indoor pergola, the two sides also share a fireplace. The pergola conceals speakers and the fireplace's exhaust flue.


The main core of the pergola contains the entertainment center and the fireplace, which has three sides so the owners can enjoy it from different spots.

Fireplace: Heat & Glo Pier, 36 inches



This custom bar is on the same side of the pergola as the lounge area. Fir-wood slats on the ceiling connect to the wood over the poker table, and stained cherry on the lower cabinets coordinates with the cherry used on millwork throughout the entire space.

The bar top is black mottled makore, a wood that Lindgren also used on the custom poker table and on some of the cabinetry. The flooring is the same tile that surrounds the pergola's core, and all of the hardware throughout the space is bronze, which helps unify the different spaces.

All light fixtures: Hubbardton Forge


Here's a closer look at how the different woods and stains come together in the bar area. You can see how Lindgren paid careful attention to every small detail in keeping with Prairie style and the Arts and Crafts movement's philosophies.


Another great detail: The bar and kitchen area conceals a 48-inch-wide secret door that can be pushed open with the touch of one finger.

"This door leads down a long and dark cave-like hallway, taking you down 100 feet below the ground surface, where the owners enjoy wine and cheese as they watch leprechauns dancing as they count their pots of gold," Lindgren jokes. Actually, it leads to the mechanical room, bulk bar storage and a large refrigerator and freezer.

The cabinet doors and drawers on the hidden door are fully functional. The backsplash is composed of 8- by 8-inch colored glass tiles.


On the other side of the pergola, the billiards area has lots of beautiful custom millwork, including shelves, a smaller bar and benches. The Wright-inspired linear trim work carries through to this area, as do the materials Lindgren used, all unifying the whole space. Just past the right end of the pool table, you can see the three-sided fireplace.

In addition to his inspiration from Wright, Lindgren also looked to his personal favorite style, Arts and Crafts. "I incorporated a little West Coast Arts and Crafts from Greene and Greene with the exposed beams and joists I used to create the interior pergola," he says.


Here's a closer look at the small bar in the billiards area, perfect for setting down drinks and snacks while shooting pool.


Lindgren designed every square inch of the space, including all of the custom millwork, like these cabinets and the trim. The cabinets and millwork are all cherrywood, with two different stains.


More custom shelves, cabinets and counter space provide storage, keeping the space uncluttered.


Here's a plan that gives you a clear idea of how the pergola (dashed lines in the center) defines the space.


Lindgren tucked the poker area into a more intimate corner, across from the bar area. The coved ceiling is lined with fir, just like the ceiling over the bar.

He designed the custom elliptical poker table with a mixture of the woods used throughout the basement, including cherry and block-mottled makore. It has a a leather arm cushion and a green felt insert.


The one-of-a-kind table also has legs with mortise and tendon joinery.


In the powder room, Lindgren used an L-shaped piece of walnut as the console, which has a concealed steel support inside. He kept it slightly out from the wall to allow room for the wall tile and mirror to run behind it.

Lindgren dubs the lower level's style "Prairie style, circa now." The space is large yet has defined comfortable spaces, serves different functions yet is unified, and delights with surprises in the details around every corner.

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